The increasing use of wireless communication devices has led to a corresponding increase in the wireless carrier infrastructure necessary to support the wireless communication devices. The wireless carrier infrastructure, while far reaching, may not provide robust and reliable service to all locations. For example, macro cell coverage may provide wireless cellular service to a city or a metropolis; however, there are various factors that can influence the reliability of the available coverage. For example, signal strength may be influenced by factors such as the proximity to a macro cell tower, radio frequency interference, or line of sight obstructions such as buildings or geographic terrain.
One approach to increasing the quality of service (QoS) to locations where the wireless carrier signal strength can be improved is the installation of a femtocell. A femto base station is a low power base station transceiver that is typically installed indoors and is connected to the Internet by cable, DSL, fiber optic link, or other suitable IP backhaul technology. This connection allows the femto base station to connect to the wireless carrier core network and provide service to wireless communication devices registered with the femto base station to create a femtocell.
A femtocell is a geographic area served over a single carrier or channel by a femto base station. Generally, a femtocell may be established within a subscriber's home. The subscriber may use the femtocell to connect a variety of wireless devices to the femto base station using short range wireless technology.
The femtocell may be set up by the user and configured to connect to the wireless carrier home network through the subscriber's Internet Service Provider (“ISP”) broadband Internet connection. There are numerous nodes within this relatively complex network configuration, and an issue with any of these nodes may disrupt the subscriber's ability to connect to the home network provided by the wireless carrier. Troubleshooting the nodes within the telecommunications network architecture may prove time-consuming and frustrating, especially for a subscriber who has established their own femtocell and does not have expertise at diagnosing communication issues within a complex network.